Vijayakant flays quota for Muslims, Christians

Pudukkottai, Sep 15: Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) Founder-President and actor Vijayakant has flayed the Tamil Nadu Government's move to provide exclusive reservation for Muslims and Christians, stating that it was with an eye on the general elections.

Addressing the party's conference to mark its third anniversary celebrations here last night, he said the announcement was nothing, but an effort to reap political mileage.

Mr Vijayakant said his party would extend support to those parties which fight for the rights of the people of Tamil Nadu as ''injustice'' had been meted out to them on several issues.

Claiming that there was a move to arrest him, he said he would not be cowed down by such threats and forge an electoral alliance with any party.

Predicting snap polls for the Lok Sabha in view of the Left parties' continued protest against the Indo-US nuclear deal and the Centre's affidavit in the Supreme Court in the Ram Sethu issue, the actor-politician called upon the electorate of Tamil Nadu to create a revolution and not vote for the Opposition AIADMK and the ruling DMK.

The conference passed a resolution, demanding restoration of Pudukkottai Lok Sabha constituency, which was done away with during the Election Commission's recent delimitation drill. Party General Secretary S Ramu Vasanthan and Deputy General Secretary K P Krishnan while, briefing newspersons on the resolutions, said the conference urged the Union Government to intervene and stop the ongoing attacks against Tamils in Sri Lanka, send food and life saving drugs to the suffering Eelam Tamils, retrieve Katchatheevu by reviewing the 1974 agreement with the island nation and take note of the atrocities perpetrated by the Lankan naval personnel against Indian fishermen.

The conference wanted all the rivers in the State to be linked, besides diverting flood waters of river Cauvery to the drought-prone Pudukkottai district.

Condemning the Tamil Nadu Government for not implementing the recommendations of the high power committee on providing uniform education for all, the meeting wanted it to be implemented atleast from the next academic year.

UNI